Between Shades of Light
by Lune-Solei
Summary: She wakes in a hospital, with him protecting her. She just doesn't realize how far he's gone to do so. Character death.


**Disclaimer:** I don't own Gundam Wing

**Warning:** Character death, blood

**Characters:** Relena, Heero

**Author's Note:** This occurred to me last week and it has gone through many and many a rewrite. Like, two hundred, I'm serious. I hope you enjoy it.

**Dedication:** To Amber for coming up with the title. You are amazing.

* * *

_Black. Pitch black. Bursts of blue and streaks of purple dredged and dragged her down, tangled about her arms and grasped her legs. _Sleep_…_sleep_ her body cried. Faces twisted and contorted, images in an old mirror, whispering unheard words and sounds. Lost in a void of silence, deafened by the bright burst of yellow clapping sending shockwaves through her body. Lightning noise, suffocating noise._

The rain pounding relentlessly against the window woke her. _Rain_? The room was dim, only a light behind her bed on and she could see streetlights illuminating rain drops outside the window. _Night_. The sterile light hit white walls and the rain drowned out the softly beeping monitors. _Unfamiliar_. _Hospital_. Her brain was foggy, memories sluggish.

_Hospital_ her brain whispered softly. Her mind locked onto it, testing the words as the rain fell. _Pain, rain, hospital, shadows, fear, pain_. Twelve thirty-seven the clock across from her ticked and she breathed deeply, feeling air catch in her throat. Turning her head so that she could see past the disheveled blonde bangs she watched the rain pour outside. She listened to the machines monitoring her systems, her heart her breathing her whatever, and expelled a long sigh before her eyes slid shut.

"…_And so ladies and gentlemen it is my supreme honor to introduce Vice Foreign Minister Darlian. Miss Darlian," the man whispered. Black gripped the edges of his face seeped into the shadows and twisted. Light glinted darkly in light eyes. She smiled and stood though as the applause rang loudly through the banquet hall._

The crash of thunder wakes her once more, deafening in the mundane quiet. With a gasp she sits and pain races red hot through her body making her lungs burn and her throat convulse. _Pain…Bad. Hurt?_ Shadows dance and darkness creeps and suddenly she sees him silhouetted against the wall across from her. She gasps again before the smile forms and her eyes light up. Cheerful cornflower blue in a sea of pale skin and blonde hair.

"Heero…" she whispers. His name tastes like chocolate, bitter and sweet, dark and fluffy all at once. She wonders that she's never noticed before.

"Relena," he murmurs from across the room. She pushes herself into a half-sitting position, wincing as her arms and chest burn. _Wrong…wrong…no pain, why pain?_ He eyes her carefully from the shadows. "You should rest."

"I have, haven't…I?" Relena asks. He offers her a smile but still does not move from where he stands.

"_Hello, good evening," she called into the microphone. The applause died to a hush and she smiled out at the elegantly dressed ladies, the well-dressed men. A few raised their glasses to her in response. "Thank you Mister Saunders," she adds with a warm smile. _

The memory hits her and leaves her anxious and sweating._ Wrong…no….wrong!_ She doesn't know why, doesn't understand. A nurse rushes in, blonde hair in disarray and white sneakers squeaking on linoleum. "Oh, Vice Foreign Minister, I'm glad to see you awake. You gave us all a scare there my dear." She eyes the window and the monitors and smiles. "My name's Matilda Hotchkins, you give me a call if you needs anything, you hear? Now rest child, rest."

She bustles out once she's through fussing with the IV bags and Relena glances at Heero, eyebrow arched in a manner resembling her brother's she's been told. He offers her a faint smirk in return. "Has she come in often then?"

"Once an hour," he replies almost instantly. A laugh bubbles at the base of her throat but her lungs won't have it.

"How did I get here? I don't remember…"

"Don't remember?"

"No. Only Mister Saunders and that damn dinner I wanted nothing to do with." Blue eyes meet hers and it's like a tidal wave of anguish pulling her under. She fights against it, surfaces, takes a deep breath – _PAIN! _- and swallows. "You didn't want me to go to. But I insisted."

"You did." His tone is a deep grey dullness that makes her eyes close, her breathing turn soft. One word and the world turns dim and non existent.

"Hee_ro_…"

"_It is my pleasure to be here tonight, to see all of you so happy and so _peaceful_ on the five year anniversary of the establishment of total pacifism. Mister Saunders has been very kind, inviting me here tonight to talk with you…" A blur of deep blue – brown – black moves to her left and her breath catches. "Heero…?" she starts to whisper, cerulean confusion seeping out of her mouth._

_Groggy. Pain. Mmph…rust…bitter…_ Her senses fight to awaken and she glares at the IV bags. Heero's sitting now, still in shadows, back toward the door and eyes fixed on the window. She watches him, feels her breath catch and fall and simply floats in a world of morphine induced limbo.

"Sorry."

"You need to rest. To build your strength." Thunder rumbles and when the lightning hits she notes that over two hours have passed. "I'm sorry." It's soft spoken, edged in ice and voiced with more emotion than she's heard from him in ages. It steals her attention immediately.

"What?" Her mind is still floating, drifting farther away and when she looks at him she sees him as…_fuzzy_…not all there. The edges are faded, the eyes deeper, burning. "Not your…"

"Yes, it is." The eyes flash deep black pain and she groans at the waves pulsing from him. "I couldn't protect you." _You tried_ she wants to say but he keeps talking, quiet and faint and drowning in thunder. "I can't protect you."

"Once Heero, once." He doesn't look at her. "What happened…?"

"I couldn't protect you." He stands and moves over to her, more graceful and sturdy than she's seen him in a long time. "I can't protect you." His fingers move to touch her chest and she feels it tighten from where the bullet had hit her. From where…

"_Relena, down!" he shouts. She can't move though, rooted to the spot as he pushes her from the podium, behind him and fires. Gunshots, more than one, more than Heero's, and he jerks a bit. Red, black, pain and shrieking. A body, falling from a balcony and suddenly she sees Heero, half turned to her as she slips to the ground. Black pain, red pain, purple anguish and blue sadness - a rainbow of pain and emotion all vying for attention and precedence. His voice sends shockwaves through her system._

The memory leaves her soaked in cold sweat and trembling. Her eyes meet his and he nods slowly. _Pain, violence. An explosion of blood and fragments and her favorite gown ruined. Blue eyes staring at her, dark and feeling, crimson on porcelain skin…_ "Not your fault…Heero…" she murmurs. She moves to touch him but he steps back, sits stiffly in the upholstered bedside chair. "Heero…"

"No…no." He gazes at her and then a smile breaks free. "You're strong." It sounds like a revelation coming from him. She wants to tell him it's because of him. She wants to ask if she's dying. She does neither, simply watches him. "You were _always_ strong and persistent – this just proves it."

"You…"

"Quiet. You will go on, promote peace."

_Blood, coats her fingers. Slides across her cheek, pools beneath her. His voice, her name, sirens and deafening screams. Blood drips onto her forehead._

"Heero, Heero what's going on?" Her eyes widen from enlightenment or fear. "No. _No_."

"Yes." He stands over her suddenly and his eyes are hard, burning like the stars he's from. She reaches for his hand, grips it hard but feels nothing – no substance, no heat, no cold. Nothing. "I'm sorry Relena."

The wound in his chest gapes wide, dress shirt plastered to his chest and soaked brown and black from too much blood. A twitch in his face belies pain and she makes herself sit up, look at him hard. Faint and fuzzy, untamed and wild. "Get help. Get help Heero!" she cries. "Don't leave me…please! I can't do this on my own. _You're_ my strength."

Whisper-soft breeze to her forehead, cooling her feverish body, as he plants a kiss to sweat soaked skin. She curls her fingers to her palm, crying freely. "No, too late. Rest Relena. Sleep. You are safe."

"No…"

"Yes. Goodbye…"

_Paramedics rushing in, someone leaning over her, screaming. Through his body. The bullet passed through him, into her. She can't believe it, can't believe the loss of focus in the eyes above her, the way he sways and falls and the red pain swells in her veins, the black of shadow and comfort folding her into its embrace. He can't have fallen._

"Good_bye_…"

She's asleep when her brother stumbles in numbly, eyes glazed from lack of sleep and face pale. He holds a cup of lukewarm coffee tight in his hand as he takes his seat next to her. Lady Une has just phoned with the news – Heero Yuy died on the operating table at three-thirteen in the morning, five years after the end of war. He stares now at his sister and wonders how he will tell her that her bodyguard, that her protector and friend and savior and who knows what else, has died.

She stirs slightly and Millardo (_always Millardo to her_ he thinks) looks at her. The two droplets of fresh blood glitter like rubies on her forehead and he frowns, reaching over to wipe them away. A sigh escapes her parted lips and he hears the name _Heero_ carried away on it. He swallows and nods to himself before starting and almost spilling his coffee when he sees her eyes open with a flutter. They travel around the room, darting into corners and to the sides before finally resting on him with a soft sigh. _He's gone_, she thinks sadly.

"Relena…"

"I know. He's where he belongs now."

He doesn't question her knowledge, doesn't admit to feeling relieved. Simply grips her hand, smiling, and relaxing into the horribly uncomfortable chair. She sighs again and her eyes flutter while the wind and rain drive against the windows. He whispers a silent prayer of thanks to wherever it is Heero Yuy's spirit is for saving his sister and hopes he gets it.


End file.
